House Stark (Ninepenny Kings)
House Stark of Winterfell is one of the Great Houses of Westeros and the principal noble house of the north. In days of old they ruled as Kings of Winter, but since Aegon's Conquest they have been Wardens of the North and ruled as Lords of Winterfell. Their seat, Winterfell, is an ancient castle renowned for its strength. House Stark was founded by Brandon the Builder, a legendary figure who lived during the Age of Heroes. Bran the Builder is said to have raised Winterfell. Lord Edwyle Stark Edwyle Stark was the only son in the marriage between Lord Willam Stark Lady Melantha Blackwood. He was thrust into lordship at the young age of four years when his father was slain and beheaded by King Raymun Redbeard, the King-Beyond-the-Wall, during the Battle at Long Lake in 226 AC. With his wife, Lady Marna Locke, he had one son: Rickard Stark. When news of Maelys Blackfyre and his Band of Nine reached the North, Edwyle Stark decided to abstain from the conflict. Instead, he used his time to construct improvements to the many castles and towns in the North. During this time, he was approached by Lord Uller Goodbrother who requested that his son, Aeron Goodbrother, be raised as a ward of Lord Stark. Edwyle graciously accepted this offer and raised the boy in the ways of the northmen, in arms and tradition alike. In the year of 268 AC, Lord Edwyle received a raven from King's Landing offering the position of Chief General, along with an invitation to the upcoming Tourney of King's Landing. After much debate with his son, Rickard, the offer was accepted and he began his ride south. He would serve on the small council as Chief General for five years, right up until his death in 273 AC. He was succeeded by his only son, Rickard Stark. Lord Rickard Stark Rickard had been ruling as Lord Regent of Winterfell for many years while his father was serving in King's Landing, therefore, not much changed in the North after the death of Lord Edwyle. Rickard was married to his first-cousin once-removed, Lyarra Stark. With her he had five children: Lyanna, Brandon, Eddard, Benjen and Shyra. He also had a bastard daughter, Lyra Snow, with a lowborn gardener from Wintertown named Axena. Although he could've easily dismissed the woman as a liar, his strong moral codes and sense of honour forced him to acknowledge the child as his own. Soon after becoming Lord of Winterfell, Rickard, like his father, was offered the position of Chief General in King's Landing. He decided to accept the position in the hopes of fulfilling his father's ambitions for the realm and, also, to delve deeper into his father's dead to see if there was any malevolence involved. Late in the year of 278 AC, Lord Rickard proposed that his daughter, Lyanna, marry the young King Rhaegar, First of His Name - despite each of them already having been betrothed to other suitors. The King saw the fruits of this alliance, as well as the beauty of the Lady Lyanna and henceforth accepted the proposal. Lyanna's betrothal to Royce Arryn and Rhaegar's betrothal to Cersei Lannister were quickly broken and the two arranged their wedding soon after. Within a year, the first royal baby was born: Princess Rhaena and then shortly after the birth Lyanna was pregnant once again. This time, however, the birth did not go so well. The birth was long and difficult and, in the end, the child was stillborn. To make things worse, the hard birth had also made Lyanna very sickly and pneumonic. She managed to fight the illness for a month but, alas, she passed away in the final month of 280 AC. Rhaegar's love for Lyanna was well-known throughout all of the Seven Kingdoms and after she passed he was drastically changed. The realm weeped for their lost Queen and their widowed King. The great plague returned to Westeros in 279 AC - some took to calling it the "Second Spring Sickness". It consumed many souls and - to the sorrow of Lord Rickard - one of the souls was that of his firstborn son, Brandon. The way in which Lord Rickard heard of his young son's death was painful to behold; it is said that he collapsed to his knees while reading the letter from Winterfell. Nobody had ever seen the Lord so vulnerable. Henceforth, the heir to Winterfell was Eddard Stark, Lord Rickard's second son.